Source: Perspectives in American Literature
During the years 1910 to 1930, there was a huge shift in the demographics of Northern cities. This period known as the Great Migration was a period of mass movement for Southern African Americans in search of job opportunities and a renewed life. Charles S. Johnson a prominent African American sociologist published several reports on the African American populations in different cities across the United States. Johnson wrote a report entitled “The Negro Population of Hartford, CT in 1921. Through his eyes, we can see why African Americans migrated to Hartford, the challenges they faced, and how they made the communities they lived in their own.
Between the years 1910 to 1920, Hartford’s population greatly increased. According
Click to view Johnson's full report "The Negro Population in Hartford, CT (1921) Source: Trinity College Digital Repository
to Johnson’s report, “…within this decade the [population] increase was 140 percent one of the largest percentages of the Northern cities affected by the movement” (Johnson p.22).When African Americans initially made it to Hartford the jobopportunities, in the tobacco industry in particular, seemed promising. However, many of them discovered that jobs were not always available. The newly arrived African Americans and the Italian and Polish immigrants that settled in Hartford often competed for the same jobs, and the Italians and Polish settlers were usually more favored. The declaration of World War I brought more hope for the African American migrants. There was an increase in job openings as immigration was banned and a number of the immigrant residents of Hartford went to fight for their homeland.
The migration to Hartford was not an easy transition. The new African American arrivals faced many challenges in addition to the lack of job opportunities as they tried to settle in the North. They faced backlash from the African Americans that lived in the North prior to The Great Migration- as they tried to distinguish themselves from the newcomers and blamed them for bad things that occurred. They also felt the implications of racism. They were segregated in certain areas of the city and endured harsh living conditions. According to Johnson, “The heaviest concentration of Negroes was found in Districts IV and V, the only housing actually available for the Negro newcomers” (p. 24).The African Americans who were fortunate enough acquired the means to move, but many others were left behind.
Racial Change Map 1920 displaying the African American Population concentrated in the Northeast part of Hartford. Click on the image to see the interactive map. Source: UConn Magic
Even though the circumstances were not ideal, the African Americans who were left behind found ways to uplift their communities through churches. There were a number of different churches for different faiths, and the differences in beliefs often caused friction between the African American community as a whole. At the end of his research, Johnson concluded his report with words of encouragement and advice for the new and existing African Americans that both called Hartford home. He stated that despite the differences that seemed to draw them apart, there were a number of individual ministers who possessed strong leadership skills. If they worked to overcome their differences and collaborate, then they would be able to effectively tackle those who further oppressed and denied them opportunities for attaining a better life. The issues surrounding migration and establishing a new life for Southern African Americans were common themes that he observed through his studies on other cities across the United States. Thanks to Charles S. Johnson, we have a better sense of what life was like for African Americans in Hartford in the 1920s.
Learn More:
African-American Genealogical Resources at the Connecticut State Library
Author Unknown. “Charles Spurgeon Johnson (American Sociologist and Editor) — Britannica Online Encyclopedia.” Encyclopedia Britannica.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/305290/Charles-Spurgeon-Johnson.
Author Unknown. “Great Migration: The African-American Exodus North : NPR.” NPR.org.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129827444.
Johnson, Charles. “The Negro Population of Hartford, Connecticut”. Department of Research and Investigations of the National Urban League, New York, 1921. Connecticut State Library. Available from the Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford, Connecticut (http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu)